Explosion, fire at Tennessee factory kills 1, injures 3 others

NASHVILLE—An explosion and fire at a Tennessee plant where several ammunition and explosives businesses are based killed one person and left three others injured.

Rescue workers were called April 16 to a blast at the plant in McEwen, about 90 kilometres west of Nashville.

The property where the plant is based is home to several businesses that have federal licenses for ammunition or explosives, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) spokesperson Michael Knight said.

Knight said it was unclear which plant was involved, and he said agents were still trying to determine exactly what happened.

“The explosion did considerable damage to the facility,” said Odell Poyner, director of the Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency.

Poyner said authorities received reports that about 20 employees were in the building at the time of the explosion, which blew out two of the walls and a large portion of the roof.

He said he didn’t know who owned the building but he believed the property it sits on belongs to Accurate Energetic Systems, LLC, a company whose website identifies it as a manufacturer of explosive materials for the defence and aerospace industries.

A telephone number listed for the company rang busy numerous times and later was picked up by a recording saying the business was closed.

Three men and one woman were taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where one was pronounced dead, hospital spokesperson Craig Boerner said.

He said the survivors had blast injuries that ranged in severity from minor to critical.

Firefighters from both Humphreys and Hickman counties battled the blaze at the plant, located in a rural area right near the line dividing the counties, Poyner said.

The fire ignited several brush fires in a nearby forested area.

All had been extinguished later in the day, he said.